Rock 'n' Roll History for
December 28


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1959 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Frankie Avalon's second and final US chart topper, "Why" becomes Billboard's last number one song of the 1950s. Unfortunately for Frankie, he could not tour behind the song as he was filming The Alamo, with John Wayne, on location in Texas.


1963 - ClassicBands.com

December 7
A quartet from Minneapolis, Minnesota who called themselves The Trashmen saw their first release, "Surfin' Bird", enter the Billboard Hot 100 where it would reach #4 during the first week of February, next year. The song is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word".

1964 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
"Tell Her No" by The Zombies is released in America, where it will peak at #6. Lifted as the second single from their debut studio album "The Zombies", the record would enjoy an eight week stay in the Top 40. The song was only a minor hit for the band in their native Britain, where it stalled at #42 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1965.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
After being released just seven months earlier, The Association's third album, "Insight Out" was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies. The LP had risen to #8 on the Billboard Top LPs Chart, spawning the singles "Windy" (#1) and "Never My Love" (#2). Along with the band, the album also included eleven studio musicians from the pool of performers known as The Wrecking Crew.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
The Doors' "Touch Me" is released. With a guitar intro strongly influenced by The Four Seasons' "C'mon Marianne", the song would reach #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 in Canada, #10 in Australia, but didn't chart at all in the UK.

December 28
The Beatles' ninth studio album, "The Beatles" (The White Album), hits the top of the Billboard 200 for the first of eight, non-consecutive weeks. The double-LP has since been certified 24X Platinum by the RIAA.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Although Cher had earlier turned the song down, "Angie Baby" becomes a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for Helen Reddy. The record also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, Reddy's fifth #1 on that list. Cher had also rejected "The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia", which Vicki Lawrence took to the top in April, 1973.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
An audience member, David Gelfer, aims a .44 magnum at Ted Nugent during one of his Washington concerts. He is immediately taken to the ground by members of the audience and security guards and charged with intimidating with a weapon.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Freddie King, who reached the Hot 100 in 1961 with "Hide Away", died from a heart attack at the age of 42. In 2003, King was ranked 25th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.


1978 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Rolling Stone magazine voted "Some Girls" by The Rolling Stones, Album Of The Year. The LP featured four singles that would become Rock staples for many years to come, "Beast of Burden" (US #8), "Shattered" (US #31), "Respectable" (UK #23), and "Miss You" (UK #3, US #1). By 2000, the album would sell over six million copies and remains the band's only LP to be nominated for a Grammy Award in the Album of the Year category.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Warner Brothers Records, which includes Elektra and Asylum, follows the lead of RCA and raises its price for 45 rpm singles to $1.99.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Depressed over mounting debts and personal problems, 38 year old Beach Boys' drummer Dennis Wilson drowned after jumping overboard from a friend's yacht at Marina Del Ray Harbor in Los Angeles. Claiming he was searching for his ex-wife's belonging that he had thrown into the water three years earlier, Dennis never resurfaced after the third dive. He was the first of the group to release a solo album, "Pacific Ocean Blue", writing and singing every track. Special permission was granted by President Reagan to have a burial at sea, which is usually only allowed for deceased Coast Guard and Navy personnel. His brother Brian, who was still unable to cope with day to day life, did not attend the funeral.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Seven months after their marriage, 51-year-old Paul Simon and 26-year-old Edie Brickell have a baby boy they name Adrian Edward Simon.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
The Spice Girls become the first female act to ever have their first three singles top the UK chart when "2 Become 1" debuts at #1.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Singer Ronnie Hammond of The Atlanta Rhythm Section is shot in the chest by a Macon police after allegedly lunging at an officer with a broken guitar handle and a hammer. Police were responding to reports that the singer was trying to commit suicide. This was the second suicide attempt within a month for Hammond, following the first on December 9th. He would later make a full recovery, but died of heart failure on March 14th, 2011.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
British Glam Rock star Gary Glitter (real name: Paul Gadd), who was convicted of child pornography offenses in 1999 in England, was deported from Cambodia. The 58 year old Glitter had set up a home last year in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.

December 28
Meri Wilson, who reached #6 in the UK and #18 in the US in 1977 with "Telephone Man", was killed in a car accident on Georgia State Route 377 in Americus, Georgia. She was 53.


2004 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
A North Carolina man named Wade Jones sold three tablespoons of water taken from a cup used by Elvis Presley during a 1977 concert for $455.

2005 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
The body of Barry Cowsill, bass guitarist for The Cowsills, was recovered from the Chartres Street Wharf in New Orleans. He was killed on or about September 1st from injuries believed to be caused by Hurricane Katrina. He was 51.

December 28
UK radio station Planet Rock asked 58,000 listeners to name the greatest Rock stars ever. First place went to Pink Floyd, followed by Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, AC/DC, U2, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Bon Jovi and Jimi Hendrix.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Peter Frampton filed a lawsuit against A&M Records over the way that his digital royalties are calculated. The suit alleged breach of contract and unfair competition and seeks compensatory damages.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Heavy metal icon and Motorhead frontman Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister died from cancer at the age of 70.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

December 28
Debbie Reynolds, the singer and actress who topped the Billboard and Cashbox charts in 1957 with "Tammy", died at the age of 84. In early 1958 she reached #20 on the Most Played by Jockeys chart with "A Very Special Love", then scored two entries on the Hot 100 in 1960: "Am I That Easy to Forget" (#25) and "City Lights" (#55).

December 28
Neil Diamond achieved his 38th Top 10 hit on Billboard's Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart with "The Christmas Medley (Acoustic Christmas)" It was his first AC Top 10 since "Cherry Cherry Christmas" hit #4 on January 2, 2010.



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